Easter 2011

This year Easter was quiet and uneventful. We had just gotten back from the beach, and were all still getting over being sick (again). The Easter Bunny did visit and even though there was no egg hunt this year, he left baskets full of goodies for the kiddos. Carter was the first one up of course. He came in and woke me up at 6am by tapping me on the head saying, "Come look what the Easter Bunny left us!" By the time I got up 15 minutes later he had already gone through his stuff and was making his way through Kyle's. I can't blame the kid, it's very exciting when a giant magical bunny leaves candy and presents for everyone while you are asleep. The rest of the day was mostly spent like a normal Sunday, but with Deviled Eggs of course.

Here is Carter showing off his spoils.

When Kyle woke up he sat right down on the couch with out a secondthought about it being Easter. This was the look on his face when I finally got him to peek over and see what was left for him.

Happy Boy!

A groggy Cammie going through her stuff.

The kids each got one of the giant bouncy balls in their baskets. The boys have decided that they are "Crystal Balls." Cammie's is sparkly. "Oooo Pitty!"

Reaching for her basket after I put it up for breakfast.

Later Cammie found another basket to climb into.

The boys playing with their new bubbles.

Cameron did a trick at breakfast. She thought she was so funny! We did too!

Silly girl!

Happy Easter to all of our friends and family. Hope yours was as nice and relaxing as ours!

Spring Break - Pismo Beach

Gregg was lucky enough to have a few days off last week. It was spring break so we decided to meet my brother Bryan and his family at Pismo beach for a few days of camping on the dunes. The mornings were great. The kids loved playing with their cousins, digging in the sand and of course watching all of the quads, dirt bikes, and other big kid sand toys. The afternoons were pretty windy so we spent a lot of time in the trailer and in town.

Looks rough doesn't it!

Carter stole my sunglasses in order to keep the sand from blowing in his eyes when the breeze started picking up.

He started being silly when he saw that I was taking pictures of him.

Cammie with cousin Autumn and cute Lexi. They were by her side for most of the trip, very cute!

Enjoying the peaceful campfire.

Carter is sharing secrets with his cousin Cade whom he played with constantly.

Cammie with Auntie Nat.

We took the kids for a walk down the Avila Pier and stopped for a snack. The cook came out to see if we liked his creation (which was awesome) and asked if he could take a picture of us. This is actually the only picture I have of the five of us since Thanksgiving.

The wind was a little too much for us in the end so we cut our trip a day short. The kids, Cammie especially, are still just too little to deal with blowing wind and sand. Carter did pretty well with it and was sad to leave early, but the younger two were happy to be going home. We love the beach and had a great time visiting and playing with family and friends. As the kids get bigger we will hopefully be doing it more often.

Basket Case

Cameron loves baskets. Well, that is to say, she loves to sit in them. She seems the most content (and always quite proud of herself) when she is sitting in a basket, or bucket, or hamper, etc. The boys used to climb into their toy basket when they were little, but it was for the purpose of being closer to their toys. Cammie on the other hand climbs in just to sit. Sometimes she plays with the toys and sometimes she throws them all out. She cracks us up as usual. Here are some of the pictures I've taken of her in various baskets around the house.

In her toy basket in the living room. She's in this one the most.

In her brothers room.

Her hamper.

Messing up the laundry is always a favorite!

Not really a basket, but she plays in her playpen a lot.

There have been others, and I'm sure there will be more.

She's our favorite little basket case!

Jawbone Canyon

This past weekend we had the opportunity to meet some friends of ours (the Cubre's) in Jawbone Canyon for a weekend camping trip. David and Ryan Booth and their families were also there as well as some of their friends. It was a lot of fun. (I know, big surprise that the Blaufuss's had fun on a camping trip! Lol.) The weather was beautiful even though it was pretty windy at times - but what else would you expect in a dessert canyon. The boys loved all of the quads and dirt bikes that were around and the fact that Daddy was able to take them for rides on borrowed quads! Cammie actually loved that stuff as much as the boys did. Anytime one of the guys would rev up one of their loud engines Cammie would light up. She wanted to crawl around and check them all out, but Mommy wouldn't let her. Soon enough she'll be going on rides with Daddy just like her brothers.

Here is a picture I took of the canyon. So pretty!

Everything was so beautiful! This was the view from our trailer. It was amazing to wake up to this every morning.

Quad Rides!!!

Here is Gregg coming down a Giant hill climb just outside of our camp sight.It really was huge, only three of the guys were brave enough to try it.

A bunch of riders were getting ready to take off on a ride together. It was windy so Cameron and I were hiding out in the trailer. She was glued in front of the screen door watching everyone and listing to the bikes. She kept pointing out the door and telling me "More, more!" It cracks me up that my sweet little girl is so enthralled with that kind of thing!

We put a large piece of carpet in the back of Gregg's pick up. It made a perfect "red neck" playpen for Cammie so that she didn't have to be down in the dirt or in the trailer all weekend. She loved it - and so did everyone else. Gregg and the boys and I spent just as much time laying around back there.

We took the kids for a little hike up one side of the canyon where there were some big rocks to sit on and a little waterfall see.

There was patches of purple and yellow flowers everywhere.

After the hike Kyle was a little tuckered out.

I can't emphasize enough how beautiful I thought everything was. I can't wait to go back someday soon!

Fire Staion No. 5

Our very good friend Matt (or Uncle Matt as he's commonly referred to by the boys) is a Firefighter here in Bakersfield. On Sunday we decided to go over to his station for a visit. We've taken the boys before, but that was almost 2 years ago.
On the way over the kids all fell asleep in the car so they were a little reserved when we got there, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. ;-)
Kyle loves anything "fireman" related and tells me all the time that he wants to drive the firetruck like Uncle Matt when he grows up, so we knew he'd get a kick out of seeing all the real equipment.
Matt was awesome! He showed us the whole station, let the boys climb up into the truck, and even took us all for a ride. Then he got the big hose out and let the kids hold it (with Daddy's help) while he turned on the water. The boys even got to climb into the driver seat and blow the air horn before we left.
Very cool!

Carter and Kyle in the truck going for a ride around the block.

Kyle kept falling out of the seat when Matt would turn or hit the breaks.

This was right after he woke up, he was a little groggy, but loved every minute of it.

Here is Uncle Matt showing the boys how to work the hose.

Kyle decided to take control and hose down the whole parking lot.

Carter was much more interested in how it worked.

Cammie's turn.

She got so dirty crawling around that we literally had to hose her off with the fire hose.

Pulling the air horn!

Kyle did the air horn and then decided he wanted to do the regular one too.

The boys each sat on the front of one of the trucks, Carter on the Engine and Kyle on the Rig (the smaller truck.)

So much fun for the boys! A big thank you to Uncle Matt for showing us around.